Chicken Vent Problem

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chicklover56

chicklover56

Songster
7 Years
Jun 1, 2015
266
7
131
Kansas
My chicken had blood on its bum feathers Monday, and I inspected it and thought I saw a scab. I've had her seperated and today, when I went to check on her she wasn't doing great. So I examined her again, and found the problem. Something is caught in her vent. It looks like poop, but when I picked at it a little there was some blood. Is it something I need to pull out, push in, etc. Any help is appreciated, I will be awaiting responses and hopefully helping her out tonight.
 
1
This is the best picture I could get, the poop is covering the thing in her vent. She is able to release poop above it.
 
chicklover56 said:

It looks pretty bad, I don't think it is prolapsed. It is hard like hardened poop, also bleeding a little.
Click to expand...
It looks like it could be a partial prolapse with either hardened tissue, poop or a combination.
If you have a vet that can see her that would be good.

Otherwise try soaking her in warm epsom salts bath, gently scrub the hardened area to (hopefully) help soften/rid her of it. It may bleed slightly just be gentle - this looks like it will be a process.
After her soaking. Pat dry, then apply some hemorrhoid cream or honey. Keep the tissue (protrusion) moist with the cream or honey. You will need to repeat this process a couple of times a day at least.

Offer her some poultry vitamins, calcium and give wet feed - you can add some hard boiled egg or tuna if you like. Keeping her hydrated is most important.

Keep her in a quiet darkened area as much as you can. This may help stave off laying an egg, but you never know. The prolapse may come out more if she lays an egg, but it's possible it could get stuck too-just so you know. I'm sure every time she poops it will stick, just do the best you can.

Let us know how she is doing.
 
Wyorp Rock said:
It looks like it could be a partial prolapse with either hardened tissue, poop or a combination.
If you have a vet that can see her that would be good.

Otherwise try soaking her in warm epsom salts bath, gently scrub the hardened area to (hopefully) help soften/rid her of it. It may bleed slightly just be gentle - this looks like it will be a process.
After her soaking. Pat dry, then apply some hemorrhoid cream or honey. Keep the tissue (protrusion) moist with the cream or honey. You will need to repeat this process a couple of times a day at least.

Offer her some poultry vitamins, calcium and give wet feed - you can add some hard boiled egg or tuna if you like. Keeping her hydrated is most important.

Keep her in a quiet darkened area as much as you can. This may help stave off laying an egg, but you never know. The prolapse may come out more if she lays an egg, but it's possible it could get stuck too-just so you know. I'm sure every time she poops it will stick, just do the best you can.

Let us know how she is doing.
Click to expand...
Ok. If it makes a difference, she started laying early (about 4 months) and laid good for a few months, but stopped producing after that. She laid one egg about two weeks ago . She hasn't turned a year yet, so could this have something to do with it?
 
chicklover56 said:
Ok. If it makes a difference, she started laying early (about 4 months) and laid good for a few months, but stopped producing after that. She laid one egg about two weeks ago . She hasn't turned a year yet, so could this have something to do with it?
Click to expand...
There is no way to know, but if she is a "production breed" it could be related. I just haven't done enough research to determine the connection, but I suspect it's very possible.

Reproductive and laying disorders are unfortunately fairly common. Prolapse goes along with these IMHO.
 
I successfully treated a newly hatched chick that had a prolapsed vent last year. She would cry and cry whenever she tried to pass a stool, and it was awful. It took about three weeks in her case to be fully better, but I was able to ease her suffering immediately by changing her food.

I agree with the advice given by others regarding the warm Epsom salt baths; I've read that chickens can quite enjoy it just as we do. These should be frequent, as suggested, twice a day, especially in the early stages of treatment as she does not look great.

Grind her food in a grinder - a coffee grinder works great - if you are giving chicken feed, which would be good for her nutrition. Alternately, fermented feed would be very good - see posts on fermented feed, it is very easy for them to digest. At least soak her feed in water for an hour or so before giving. She needs very soft, easily digested food. If her food is hard like crumbles or pellets, it will continue to be difficult for her to pass and it will continue to irritate her injured tissue.

Give lots of fresh water.

Add probiotics or high quality active cultured yogurt to her food. If you give fresh foods, which is helpful, make them soft foods. I gave my chick smashed grapes without the peels (can you believe it?) and I felt ridiculous but I did it anyway. She loved them. Applesauce is good, especially fresh applesauce or just smashed apples.

Apply hemorrhoid ointment medication at least twice daily to the vent area.

Good luck. That is sad, and I hope she feels much better soon.
 
Last edited:

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